Barebones of my budget

olb81

Its not looking good guys and gals…………….

Income £1820 per month after tax, no overtime, overtime optional, prefer not to do it. I pay the minimum into the work pension to match the employer.

Outgoing: Rent £1360

Council tax £108

Electric £60

Water £54

OK lets stop here for a second, that leaves £238

I run a car and a full tank at £80 will at best last 2 weeks so fuel is £160.

I spend about £15 per day on all my food and groceries £450 a month WOW

I'm now in the RED -£372

Thats before anything else like saving for holidays, birthday/xmas presents, anything else I've missed!

Not looking good is it. I live in West Berkshire and work at royal mail.

I have £50k in a pension, and £165k in savings.

Please anyone help with what to do before I eat into my savings!!!

grumpy_codger

I spend about £15 per day on all my food and groceries £450 a month WOW

Indeed WOW

I don't budget, but out of curiocity checked recently and it was about £250 for two of us. Admitedly, we buy cheap fruit&veg on the local market at the end of the day and I like buying reduced food in Tesco and Aldi. And for Tesco I buy giftcards with 4% cashback.

eskbanker

Best bet will be to head over to this board and post there, with a fuller version of your incomings and outgoings via the preferred template:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/debt-free-wannabe

and you'll get suggestions about areas to focus on, even though you're not actually in debt as such…

JGB1955

Your rent is almost 75% of your income. That's not sustainable. Can you take in a lodger?

eskbanker

Please anyone help with what to do before I eat into my savings!!!

Move in with someone else?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6679443/moving-in-with-girlfriend-no-home-of-my-own

QrizB

Move in with someone else?

Until last year, OP was living with their parents. Then after a brief period as a homeowner they're now renting "a high end flat".

OP any progress towards moving in with your girlfriend? If that's not currently on the cards, is moving back in with your parents an option? Or getting a flatmate?

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82124521#Comment_82124521

Yes, renting a sole occupancy 'high end flat' and running a car, while earning what appears to be close to minimum wage, does seem a recipe for depleting savings at a rate of knots!

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82124496#Comment_82124496

Yeah....family of 3 with a hungry 13 year old and we are nowhere near £450 a month!

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6682007/barebones-of-my-budget

Can you reduce your rent? Lots of flats in Reading/Newbury area are under £1000 pcm.

danny13579

How on earth are you spending £450 per month on groceries? 😮 Is that just for yourself? Batch cooking is a great way to be economical and create tasty nutritious food. If it's junk food you're buying such as ready meals, your body and wallet will thank you for ditching them.

Other than that, maybe downsize to a smaller flat or a cheaper area, see if you can find someone else to house share, maybe change to a more fuel efficient car?

What do you plan on doing with the savings? Could you buy a small apartment somewhere with them so that you're no longer renting?

RobfromCornwall

I live alone. My average food spend is £277 a month.